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Dan Jones
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mention of sexual assault

I was playing around with , by making various celebrities into characters on .

Most of them worked pretty well, and I got entertaining results.

Then I tried the prompt "Michael Jackson as an alien on Star Trek: Voyager".

I got a response "It looks like this request may not follow our content policy".

I tried an almost identical prompt with a different celebrity, and it worked fine.

So, that was weird. I then tried other, completely innocuous, prompt involving Michael Jackson, and every time was met with the same warning: prompts such as "Michael Jackson in a field of flowers" or "Michael Jackson singing on stage". Each one gave me that error. Other members of the Jackson family could be used in prompts with no problem. Other people closely associated with Michael Jackson could be used.

Maybe, I think, it won't let me use him because of the abuse allegations. So, how about other well-known people suspected or known to have committed sexual abuse? I tried a few, with no problem: Kevin Spacey, Harvey Weinstein, Andrew Cuomo, Brett Kavanaugh, Bill Clinton.

There was one other name I tried that also triggered the warning though: Bill Cosby. It seems like a racial thing now. But I did try a few other black men accused of sexual misconduct: R. Kelly, Cuba Gooding Jr, and Martin Lawrence. No problem with them.

So, why single out Michael Jackson and Bill Cosby as verboten? 🤷

One more thing: since I tried Bill Clinton and Brett Kavanaugh, I also tried a few other politicians that had no sex scandals. Got the same content policy warning with "Barack Obama" and "Michelle Obama". I really wanted to see what Michelle Obama would look like as a Starfleet admiral, but it just wouldn't.

DALL·E labs.openai.com
Dan Jones's avatar
Dan Jones
@[email protected]

I'd heard that ChatGPT sometimes recommends books to read that don't exist. I decided to try my hand at it, and honestly got some good recommendations. I double checked the ones I'd not heard of, and these are all real, and all good recommendations for me.

Here's the chat transcript.

I'd like some book recommendations. My favorite authors are Michael Crichton, Robert Heinlein, and Isaac Asimov.

Sure, here are some books you might enjoy based on your favorite authors:

  • Michael Crichton: "Jurassic Park," "The Andromeda Strain," "Sphere"
  • Robert Heinlein: "Stranger in a Strange Land," "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress," "Starship Troopers"
  • Isaac Asimov: "Foundation," "I, Robot," "The Caves of Steel"

These books are all within the science fiction genre and feature fast-paced action, complex technology, and thought-provoking ideas.

Can you recommend some lesser known books that fit that theme?

Certainly, here are some lesser known books in the science fiction genre that you may enjoy:

  • "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card
  • "Snow Crash" by Neal Stephenson
  • "The Diamond Age" by Neal Stephenson
  • "The Time Machine" by H.G. Wells
  • "Dune" by Frank Herbert
  • "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
  • "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick
  • "The Invisible Man" by H.G. Wells
  • "The War of the Worlds" by H.G. Wells

These books feature imaginative worlds, futuristic technology, and thought-provoking ideas, similar to the works of Crichton, Heinlein, and Asimov.

I've read all of those, and like them all. Can you recommend others that I might not have read?

Certainly, here are some more obscure science fiction books that you may enjoy:

  • "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch" by Philip K. Dick
  • "The Man in the High Castle" by Philip K. Dick
  • "The Dispossessed" by Ursula K. Le Guin
  • "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin
  • "The Culture" series by Iain M. Banks
  • "The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury
  • "Ringworld" by Larry Niven
  • "The Day of the Triffids" by John Wyndham
  • "The Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison

These books offer unique perspectives on technology, society, and the human experience, and offer a different take on the science fiction genre.

Thank you. I particularly like cyberpunk stories, such as "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" and "Snow Crash". Any more like that that you can recommend?

Certainly, if you enjoy cyberpunk stories, you might like these books:

  • "Neuromancer" by William Gibson
  • "Count Zero" by William Gibson
  • "Mona Lisa Overdrive" by William Gibson
  • "Altered Carbon" by Richard K. Morgan
  • "Burning Chrome" by William Gibson
  • "The Diamond Age" by Neal Stephenson
  • "Virtual Light" by William Gibson
  • "A Deepness in the Sky" by Vernor Vinge
  • "The Glasshouse" by Charles Stross

These books often feature a blend of high technology and low life, with a focus on artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and the blurring of the line between the physical and digital world.